As I am sure we are all aware, recently for Israeli Apartheid Week the Emory Students for Justice in Palestine (ESJP) set up a display on the terraces of the Dobbs University Center (DUC). The display, a simple wall of facts, showcased a very large title that read “Israel is an Apartheid State” in bold, capitalized letters. For those of you who don’t know, apartheid, as defined and adopted by the United Nations refers to “acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.” The wall listed several supposed facts that all supported its declaration.
As Emory is well known for its large and active Jewish community, a display of this nature was not taken lightly. Unfortunately, the wall was almost immediately vandalized, an act of crime that has been strongly condemned by Emory Hillel, a Jewish student group. But, in an almost retaliatory manner, Hillel constructed its own fact wall, dubbed “The Truth Wall,” which was quickly erected on McDonough Field. Positing the opposite claim that Israel was in fact not an apartheid state, the wall showcased three supposed “myths” about Israel and its policies, as well as further listing a handful of facts demonstrating Israel’s inclusivity. While the matter appears to be hardly resolved, so far there appear to be no further plans made by either team to erect a third wall.
Which brings me to my point. ESJP clearly thought that setting up a wall that displayed their opinion was the right way to go. Hillel, in turn, clearly believed that setting up a wall of their own was the proper response. The futility of setting up walls to facilitate open discussion notwithstanding, both walls prominently displayed facts of their own, snippets of statistics that I am sure are all in fact true. Let me repeat that. All facts, on both walls, are probably true. But wait, you say. If both walls arguing completely opposite points are supported by true facts, then which one is right? Here’s the truth about the facts on both walls. Every fact posted on either wall came with no context, outside of its intended use on said wall. In the interest of not bombarding students with a wall of text (ironically), the groups decided to handpick short and easily remembered clips of statistics and display them as truths. This means that while the numbers and facts students read off of them may in fact be entirely true, no one without further research can truly come up with a conclusion. In reality, both walls of facts are presented by two completely biased groups with their own agendas of disseminating information and rallying the masses. There is a term for such a “fact,” one that I am sure you all know: propaganda. As defined by Oxford Dictionaries, propaganda is “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.” Sound familiar?
[padding type="medium_left_right"][quote_box name=""]If both walls arguing completely opposite points are supported by true facts, then which one is right?[/quote_box][/padding]
A caveat: by my own argument then, one could argue that no fact or information presented by an individual or group is reliable, as everyone is biased. The news industry, by nature, is largely run by reporters and corporations who all have their own political beliefs and personal biases. However, what sets apart TheEmory Wheel, for instance, from ESJP and Hillel is quite simple. The Wheel, I hope, strives to be as unbiased as possible when presenting facts, news and information, even while understanding that achieving perfect objectivity is impossible. This means that while they may not be perfect, they are doing their best to be as reliable and newsworthy as possible. The same cannot be said of ESJP and Hillel, two student groups who in their recent actions have blatantly made it their mission to disseminate information that further supports their own political agenda.
Now, I am not saying that these student groups, or student groups on Emory campus in general, should abstain from furthering their own beliefs and platforms. Part of being in college is to engage in discussions on relevant and controversial issues. Only in an open discussion can people question the facts presented by both groups, share different and conflicting ideas and earn mutual respect for either side. The thing is, ESJP and Hillel did not set up those walls to facilitate discussion in an effective manner. While yes, each board was accompanied by members of their respective group to answer questions, turning to a student group with a stake in a controversial issue for an objective answer would be naïve at best. Neither wall (nor its student facilitators) bothered to represent or acknowledge the multiple facets of a troubling and complex problem. Students were not meant to question the facts presented on the wall. Instead, students were meant to simply accept the statements as truths, with no further thought of their own.
Come on, Emory. We are better than this.
Eugene Ahn is a College senior from Raleigh, North Carolina.
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